LINGUIST List 9.1611

Sat Nov 14 1998

Qs: Cognate object construction, Language/computers

Editor for this issue: Jody Huellmantel <jodylinguistlist.org>

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

I am posting this query on behalf of Christiane Fellbaum, Dave
Lebeaux, and myself.
Dear Everyone,
We would like to find out what work has been done on the so-called
cognate object construction, such as:
She slept a restful sleep.
He laughed a hysterical laugh.
They danced a slow, romantic dance.
Our understanding is that this construction is widespread among
langauges, as they have been observed in Chichewa, Hebrew, Arabic,
Russian, English, Icelandic, German, etc, with somewhat different
morphological/grammatical properties and varying productivity.
We are wondering what papers and/or unpublished manuscripts are
available on this topic regarding
-straight description;
-morphological, syntactic and semantic properties of the
construction; or
-the relation of the cognate object construction to the
availability/analysis of other constructions/morphological
phenomena.
We would like to cast this net wide, so we would be interested in
information about any language, and any relevant information.
Please respond to Piroska Csuri at:
piroskaresearch.nj.nec.com
If there is interest, I will post a summary with the information
received.
Thanks for any help,
Piroska Csuri
4 Independence Way
NEC Research Institute
Princeton, NJ 08540
Fax: (609)951-2482

The Arts Faculty here in UCD is thinking of starting a degree course
combining language/literature and computer science sometime in the
near future.
Is there anyone out involved in a similar course at the moment who
could send me details of the structure of their course? I would be
much obliged as it would help us in our adventure into a new area for
many of us here!
Thanks
feargal murphy
dept. of linguistics
University College Dublin
Belfield, Dublin 4.
tel: + 353 1 706 8610
e-mail: feargal.murphyucd.ie